Recently my soon-to-be spouse, Mike, was injured at work. While we wade through the myriad of hoops that is Workers Compensation and the requirements of the Department of Labor, waiting for a surgery to be approved, he has been camped out on the couch in his “castle” of pillows which keep his arm propped up so that his injured shoulder is supported. After 6 weeks of this we decided to see if we could reconstruct a similar design in our bed, so that he could be more comfortable. We are working out configurations that will allow him to rest and recuperate in our bed more comfortably post-surgery (whenever that might be). This seemed fine until the dreaded realization that to have the best set up, we would need to SWITCH SIDES OF THE BED!!
Now, if you have ever shared a bed with a significant other, you know that “sides” of the bed are established and maintained early in a relationship and are as ingrained as the position in which you begin your night of slumber (side curl, tummy, back) so to think that one can possibly just SLEEP on the other side of the bed and have it be the same is just ludicrous. I find this shift in mindset similar to how many encounter even the smallest changes in other facets of their life such as starting to write a blog with regularity. 
I recently had the pleasure of meeting George Couros speak at the Fall 2016 Convergence Conference held by Wake County Public Schools. I had been thinking about blogging for many years. I hadn’t made the initial leap into reflecting publicly about my work, my life, or my interests. I would often be overwhelmed by just the nuts-and-bolts of it and not move past that fear or work on how to organize it or put down my thoughts. I often pondered about creating a running blog or a work blog or a life blog and the thought of starting 3 different sources was too much in my already harried life. Then George quickly helped me sort all of that out. Have one blog, tag it appropriately for the topics, individuals or places involved. Make sure to include categories that tie directly into the evaluation instrument for my position. In doing this, my blog becomes more than just a reflection vessel, but additionally a portfolio, my evidence, and even my resume as a whole person. I then took this further and reflected with my “tribe” or Professional Learning Network following the conference. Listening, talking, reading and then putting words to paper, I have been encouraged by so many to jump in with my exploration of blogging.
So here I am starting a new habit in my life. It might prove difficult to maintain at first but I know that reflection is an important part of who I am and what I do in my job and life each day. It will have to become like my running and workouts are now, just something that is an important part of my routines. Bill Ferriter put it best when he stated “If you aren’t blogging, you aren’t reflecting.” It isn’t extra, it is rather an important part of teaching and supporting those that teach. In my work I am continuously encouraging others to take a leap of faith, try something new and learn from mistakes along the way. It is time for me to put that into practice for myself as well. I hope to reflect in my blog at least once a week. Just like anything new, I know that I have to make time for it and there will be times that I fall behind. As I process this change in the place in which my fiance’ and I sleep, with time it will feel like a normal part of our day and sleep cycle. That is also how I see this new thing called Blogging in my personal and professional life. I’m so grateful to have a Professional Learning Network that pushes me to be my best by taking risks and trying new things while also cheering from the sidelines when I falter.
Outside The Box 